E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Episode 118 (June 14, 2024)

The Summer of Spielberg begins with Spielberg’s biggest hit, the classic 1982 alien/divorce family film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

Adjusted for inflation, this is the fourth-highest-grossing movie of all time. Beloved by generations, it is a lot of fun, yes… but it’s also some dark, dark shit. Laci explains why it’s always been so difficult for her to watch, even though she knows how good a movie it is.

There is much gushing about puppets. There has maybe never been a better puppet in a movie. And there may have never been three better child actor performances than the brothers and sister in this movie.

Time stamps:
4:01 — We have a new theme song!
6:23 — Our histories with E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
14:30 — Matt ranks his top-10 Spielberg movies
16:16 — Pre-movie predictions
32:55 — History segment: Development and production of E.T. (the character and the movie)
58:42 — In-depth movie discussion
1:42:53 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

“Summer of Spielberg” – https://youtu.be/yglAqqLEaoI

“Winston-Salem” – https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM

“Snake Drama” – https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg

“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” – https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ

“Summer of Spielberg” theme song credits:

Words and music written by Matt Stokes

Performed by Wade Hymel (drums/guitar), Laci Roth (vocals), and Matt Stokes (vocals/guitar/bass)

Produced by TJ Barends, Wade Hymel, and Matt Stokes

Engineered and mixed by TJ Barends at Bare Sounds Studio in Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Sources:

Spielberg: The First Ten Years by Laurent Bouzereau – https://bit.ly/4bVwS5T

“Spielberg speaks! Jaws Blu-Ray in the works with no ’digital corrections!’ by Eric Vespe | Ain’t It Cool News, 2011 – https://bit.ly/3VF4MGq

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 20th Anniversary Special, 2002 – https://imdb.to/3KH1wnv